Week One Fini

Friday July 13, 2012

Well, I’m a little worried because time seems to be flying already (jou yo ap kouri!). Today we finished our last day of camp in Cite Soley. It was a good finish, although I feel like I did not do much today! The leaders took over today in order to make today a little more special since it was not only the last day of the camp, but also the last day of the two weeks of craftsman workshops that have been going on with some older kids in the afternoons. I still can’t believe this worked out! When Leah and I came here in February to plan, the idea sounded so great on paper, but like anything here, I was thinking it was going to be so hard to turn it into reality. But it appeared to roll as smooth as butter. So the workshops involved 5 groups of kids taught by 5 teachers from inside the community. The kids had two weeks to continue to learn the skills and work on their craft, which were crocheting, making jewelry, making wedding decorations, and painting. And the teachers and kids delivered! Today they decided to do a “community exposition” (meaning they invited the whole community to come look at what the kids had been working on all week) and even before we arrived this morning, they had all the crafts displayed on sheets on the wall and (I’m not just saying this, but) they looked so good! Literally, we did nothing with this plan but listen to them tell us their ideas and provide materials for them; they took it from there. It may not sound like much but it feels right to work to give the kids a skill, something of substance, and a source of pride that they created something themselves, that maybe, just maybe may flourish into something that enables them in their futures.

The last day is always bittersweet. You get to see a little glimpse of the work and relationships that went on but also see that the chapter is closing. We are leaving for the north (Passe Catabois) tomorrow morning to continue with camp there for the next three weeks. However, we will be coming back to Cite Soley after that so the goodbye wasn’t too bad.

So, some of my favorite moments from the week:

-Sitting with the class of boys (all around age 11-13) making bracelets. I decided to jump in and work and made one of the boys teach me what he had learned. They kept telling me to “Travay! Travay!” (Work! Work!) when I stopped for even a small moment! Oh how they laughed! My “teacher” was pretty proud of himself.

-The leadership from Mario, the nurse, who gives the best explanation of the bible stories and also the best health lessons I have ever heard. I need to take some notes from him!

-Leah and I doing crazy skits for our health lessons that made me laugh so hard. They involved a lot of mikwobs (germs), black teeth, and djare (diarrhea)!

-The workers, especially Dorothy, our only girl, who holds her own and is so strong. We visited her house today, which is maybe a 6 by 6 feet room she shares with her dad. It was eye opening and mind boggling to me how she can look so fresh, made up, and beautiful all the time when she lives in a situation that is SO hard.

-The Rasta who also is our crochet teacher. This man has a sense of humor that I learned was kind of under the radar. He had a class full of girls that made beanies and water bottle cases. So awesome.

-John, one kid who somehow showed up for camp in the middle of the week. He has a crutch because he lost one of his legs in the earthquake in 2010. But from what I saw his heart and manners were so admirable that you could not help but love him. When the kids went outside to play he would always want to help by passing out supplies for us. He’s just a normal kid, but then you see his leg, which is just a constant reminder of the kind of life he (and all) the kids are living.

-The music. Like I said we had some self-appointed DJ pumping the music through loud speakers during work times. During the workshops the music would be blasting and you’d look around the room and all the kids would be busy working and singing at the top of their lungs or busting out some moves in their chair. And today somehow turned into an all out dance party during one of our transition times. Watching that just makes me laugh; there is such a joy in it.

Tomorrow we are traveling again. We are hoping and praying for smooth travels as getting to Passe Catabois is always more than an adventure. There will be more to come...